Scientific research has undergone a transformation from knowing little about cells to experimenting on the cells and advance in medicine. The fascination to discover the unknown has triggered scientists to unconsciously over-step ethical boundaries. In The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot (2010) elaborates on the legal unethical practices in 1951 in the United States and the standard medical practices during the Jim Crow era. The policies and regulations have structurally created disparities among the African American population leading to skepticism towards the healthcare system. Eventually, the public raises concerns after numerous disclosures of human research cases and regulations were implemented. The Belmont Report …show more content…
“This was the era of Jim Crow-when black people showed up at white-only hospitals, the staff was likely to send them away, even if it meant they might die in the parking lot” (Skloot, 2010, p.15). Henrietta was a colored woman and only Johns Hopkins Hospital would accept her admission and give her treatment. Many colored patients struggle through the same racial disparity and went to Hopkins because they do not have any other choice. Although segregation was legal and enforce during that time period, however, it is inhumane to accept or deny anyone from getting medical treatment base on their color of their skin. It is an unethical act for healthcare professionals to perpetuate the segregation ideology, which has limited the quality and the amount of care that Henrietta should have …show more content…
The term “practice” signifies interventions that can enhance a person’s well-being (USDHHS, 2017). Whereas, the term “research” implies the entire experimental process of testing a hypothesis (USDHHS, 2017). Therefore, practice and research needs to be clearly identified and be kept separated because they represent two different acts. When a patient gives healthcare professionals the permission to “practice”, it is solely for the purpose to improve their health outcomes. By accepting and allowing practice, it does not constitute an agreement be participate in a research. It would be crossing the boundaries to perform a research when the healthcare professionals were expected to improve patient’s well-being. The Belmont Report serves as a summary of the ethical principles and guidelines to protect the public from being
Dana Garcia Ripley Honors English 2 20 March 2017 Lack of Justice The book The Immortal life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot tells the story of an African American woman named Henrietta Lacks whose cells made one of the greatest medical contributions ever. Henrietta Lacks died of cervical cancer at the age of 31. Cells were taken from her body without her knowledge. Rebecca L. Skloot is a self-employed science writer who specializes in science and medicine.
Having the opportunity to discuss the impact of medical research performed on Henrietta Lacks’ cells with doctor George Guy would be an experience like no other. Through the use of Henrietta Lacks’s cells, George Guy created an industry that would fuel research throughout the scientific community. When Henrietta Lacks was admitted to the hospital for radiation treatments, doctors took samples of her cervical cancer cells. Henrietta was not informed that one of the two samples was sent to George Guy, a scientist researching the immortalization of human cells. Guy soon realized that these cells were able to grow outside of the human body, they even grew rapidly.
the rules have changed since then, and they are still changing. The National Institutes of Health recently modified requirements for consent for use of tissues and related medical data in research. Now, researchers must comply with a new policy that promotes sharing of genomic information in a way that protects privacy of people who donated samples for research. The policy also requires consent for future use of all tissues. Researchers will initially explain why they are interested in conducting research on cells but are not required to keep individuals informed of what happens to the information and cells after data collection.
In August of 2013, Talha Khan Burki wrote “Righting a Long-standing Wrong for Henrietta Lacks” for Lancet Oncology. Burki’s purpose was to highlight the problem with the sequence data of patients’ cells (namely, Henrietta Lacks) being publicly released and to inform people of the privacy risks involved. Burki did a very good job at explaining what the issue was, what had been done about it and what needed to happen. Generally, readers struggle and become overwhelmed when they see a large sum of information all at one time. However, while this article provides the reader with several facts, it makes the reader think and Burki did a very well at writing in a manner that prior knowledge of certain terms or concepts are not critical to comprehending.
My Tissue or Your Tissue? Where have the ethics gone in medicine today? Rebecca Skloot’s novel, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks discusses the life and influence of Henrietta Lacks within the medical community. Henrietta Lacks was an African American tobacco farmer from Clover, Virginia, whose cells were wrongly stolen from her without her knowledge or consent in 1951. Cells that would inevitably become the world’s first immortal cell line, thus transforming modern medicine forever.
Since Henrietta lived in a time when discrimination was not uncommon, the reaction of the public today would differ greatly from if the book had been published in the 1950s. For example, on the treatment of African Americans, Skloot states, “they recruited hundreds of African-American men with syphilis, then watched them die slow, painful, and preventable deaths, even after they realized penicillin could cure them”. Clearly, this quote demonstrates the racial discrimination present during the time of Henrietta because African Americans were often treated as test subjects, instead of as human beings. In addition, doctors were considered to be trustworthy individuals because of their high degree of education. Even if African Americans were aware of their unfair treatment, they accepted racial segregation as common practice and were grateful to be receiving any form of treatment.
Within Part Three of the novel The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks there are a few important aspects to be considered. Two things I found important were the general themes of the true meaning of family and exactly as the title says, immortality. In Chapter 32 Henrietta’s children get to see their mother’s cells for the first time at Hopkins hospital. When entering in the specific room that contained the Hela cells “Deborah and Zakariyya stared at the screen like they’d gone into a trance, mouths open, cheeks sagging.
However her story is a reminder about how people of color used to be treated and that we should remember so it does not happen again. 3. Henrietta's story is an example of people getting taken advantage of because of how she and other colored people had to go to a different part of the hospital, and probably did not get to see the best doctors that the hospital had to offer. 4. The groups of people that are most at risk to be taken advantage of are the people that do not take the time to inform themselves.
Henrietta Lacks, a woman of many aliases, yet without a voice. Lacks suffered throughout her time past the diagnosis of her cervical cancer. So many people wanted to know more about her cells, without realizing where they came from. The cells came from a woman, whose strength was like no other. Not only did Henrietta suffer - she had a husband and children - all who wanted to see their loved one recover.
There is a large controversy over ethics and the part that it plays in medicine. Where is the line between advancement and patient rights? The issue of tissue ownership and information ownerships is only one of the many problems that Henrietta and her family are stuck dealing with. But, before Rebekkah Skloot introduces the readers to Henrietta and her cells, Skloot opens with an epigraph from Elie Wiesel. By using Wiesel’s epigraph Skloot creates the tone for the rest of the novel.
The question of ethics has been an ongoing issue. Two things that are very important in medical ethics is morality and religion because this gives the rights to the physician, or doctor and also the relationship between the patient. In the article, The Code of Medical Ethics, a physician/doctor must recognize the responsibility to their patients, as well to society, to other health professionals, and to themselves (Riddick). Most people do not know who Henrietta Lacks is, or know how important her cells are. Unlike most cells, Henrietta’s seemed to be immortal; her cells never died.
Henrietta Lacks was a black tobacco farmer from the south who, in 1950, at the age of 30, she was diagnosed with aggressive cervical cancer. Lacks went to John’s Hopkins medical center for treatment for her cancer. In April of 1951, she underwent surgery to remove the larger tumor on her cervix. Henrietta Lacks, died three days following the surgery. Even though Henrietta Lacks died, her cells from the tumor have lived on and have made a major impact on the biomedical community.
I first heard about Henrietta Lacks story after noticing and advertisement of Oprah Winfrey directing or possibly playing the role of Ms. Lacks. Reading the caption underneath the picture posted I decided to inquire more about the Henrietta Lacks. Ms. Lacks was an African American woman who found out in 1951 after a biopsy, Lacks was diagnosed with cervical cancer. The manifestation of the tumor was unlike anything that had ever been seen by the examining gynecologist Dr. Howard Jones. Henrietta Lacks was treated at the segregated John Hopkins Hospital with radium tube inserted and sewn into her body, a standard treatment at that time sewn in her body.
What are the specific issues raised in the book—legally and ethically? Think about the 1980s John Moore case: the appeal court decision and its reversal by the California Supreme Court. Issues that raised in the book are race issues, the legality of taking adventage of patients who’s family aren’t able to fight for the rights and benefit of their cells. According to California supreme court, Under the duty to obtain informed consent, “a doctor must disclose his intent in using a patient for research and economic gain.” 6.
Racism in The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Imagine your mother, sister, wife, or cousin was diagnosed with cervical cancer and you believed the doctors were doing everything in their power to help her. Only later you discovered her cells were used for research without consent and she was not properly informed of the risks of her treatment due to her race. This story happened and is told by Rebecca Skloot in The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Skloot use of narrative and her writing style enhances the understanding of the story. Henrietta Lacks was a young black woman who was diagnosed with cervical cancer at John Hopkins Hospital.